Trunk



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. LYFORD.

TRUNK. No. 479,438. Patented July 26, 1892.

I IN 2 Sheet.s-Sheet 2. F. LY FORD.

(No Model.)

TRUNK.

Patented July 26, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS LYFORD, OF AUGUSTA, MAINE.

TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 4'79,{l38, dated July 26, 1892.

Application filed October 12, 1891.

To all whom it may-concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS LYFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Augusta, in the county of Kennebec and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates generally to trunks, and particularly to trunks in which the'lids are adapted to be raised so as to stand with their tops in line with the rear wall of the trunk; and it has for its object to provide simple means whereby such lids are made to assume when raised to their full height a vertical position, in which the top of the lid will be practically in line with the rear or back of the trunk-body, and thus enable the lid to be raised when the trunk is standing against a wall or partition without having to first draw the trunk out or away from the wall or partition; and it consists in the parts and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a trunk open or with the lid raised with my invention attached thereto; Fig. 2, an end elevation of the trunk with lid raised; Fig. 3, a "ertical transverse section showing lid raised; Fig. 4, a like view showing lid closed, and Fig. 5 a detail perspective of the lug and hook.

Heretofore attempts have been made to accomplish the object of this invention; but they have, so far as I am aware, only succeeded in doing so after altering and reconstructing the trunk body or lid or both body and lidas, for instance, by reducing or cutting out a portion of the end wall of the trunk in order to give room for free movement of the rear lower corners and edge of the trunk-lid, which is pivoted at the center of its height, and generally rounding off said corners to further facilitate such freedom of motion or by rounding off or forming the rear of the lid on the arc of a circle for its full length, pivoting the same at a point some distance from the rear edge or back of the lid at the center of its height, raising the back Serial No. 408,483. (No model.)

or rear wall of the trunk-body and lowering the ends of said trunk-body, and in one other instance reducing the height of the body of the trunk at its front and for the greater portion of its ends, then extending the remaining portion of the ends at the rear upwardly in an inclined direction to meet the rear wall of the trunk, which is raised above the front and end walls, and connecting said raised portions of the ends by a rail and then swinging the trunk-lid, which is of less width than the body of the trunk, on pivots at its ends immediately in front of the rail. None of these arrangements can be employed on the ordinary trunk body and lid in which the body and lid are made of the same width and length and in which the lid fits down on the upper edges of the trunk-body all around, and therefore it is necessary that the lids and bodies of the trunks be made specially for the purpose, thus adding to the cost of manufacture and consequent increase of cost to the user. It has also been attempted to accomplish the result bymeans of double hinges; but such hinges are necessarily somewhat complicated and require the nicest adjustment in attaching the same to the lids and bodies in the first instance and when attached are liable to become inoperative, owing to the ease with which they may be broken, and, besides, the trunks must also be altered to adapt them to such hinges, and, so far as I can learn, they have not come generally into use because of these objections. Now I overcome the objections named and accomplish the object by very simple means, which may be applied to trunk bodies and lids of the ordinary kind without any alteration whatever of either the body or the lid and which may be readily applied to the bodies and lids of the ordinary trunks now in use.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a trunk-body, and B a trunk-lid, which may be of the ordinary or any desired construction, although I show a preferred form of construction which will be hereinafter fully described. To each end of the trunk at its rear corners I secure the lower ends of the brackets G, which are preferably formed so as to embrace said corners and act as strengthening-pieces therefor, although they may be simply formed of a plate of metal, at the upper end of which is formed a perforation D. As will be noticed, the bracket stands for about one-half its length above the upper edge of the trunkbody, so that its perforation is brought to a position but slightly within the yertioal line of the rear wall of the trunk and at a point near the top of the lid when the same is in position. Between these brackets the lid is secured by pivots or trunnions E, passing through the end walls of the lid and into the perforations D, the proper location of said trunnions or pivots being such that the lower edge of the rear wall of the lid will swing freely or with but slight frictional contact with the upper edge of the walls of the trunkbody and so that the said rear wall when the lid is raised will stand above and free of the trunk-body and may be swung back into position to close the trunk and accurately fit on the upper edges of the walls of the same without obstacle.

The proper point for the location of the pivot, in order to give the necessary clearance to permit of the lid being easily raised, is above the center of depth of the ends of the lid and at or near the upper rear corners of the same and on a diagonal line drawn from said upper rear corners to the lower edges of the end walls of the lid to a point which is equally distant from the rear wall of the lid and the top of the same. By thus raising the pivotal point above the center of the depth of the lid and toward its upper rear corner causes the rear wall of the lid as said lid is lifted or raised at its front to swing inwardly and to be raised in the arc of a circle above the upper edge of the trunkbody, as indicated in dotted lines, as at A, Fig. 2, leaving a gap or space between said rear wall and said upper edge of the trunk, as indicated in the drawings. By thus raising the lid bodily above the trunk I am enabled to advantageously place in and remove from the trunk the trays, boxes, and the like, owing to the increased space aiforded thereby. The brackets 0 need be merely strips of metal secured to and projecting above the ends of the trunk at its rear a sufficient distance to bring the pivotal points near the top and rear edge of the lid. The rear or back piece F of the lid is preferably formed with a. groove a, which extends from end to end thereof and is adapted to receive the inturned edge 1) of the rear valance, in order to exclude rain, &c., from the interior of the trunk.

At about the center of the back of the body of the trunk I secure a lug G, having formed in its upper portion an elongated slot 0, the upper end d of which slot is inclined downwardly and inwardly, and on the rear edge of the trunk-lid, at a point corresponding to said lug, I secure a plate H, from the center of which projects upwardly and outwardly a hook 6, adapted to enter the slot 0 and fit snugly against the face of the end (I of the slot 0, and thus draw and hold the lid and body together when closed, bracing both of them at their center of length at a point heretofore left unprotected and therefore liable to bulge outwardly when the trunk is packed closely with clothing, &c., or during transportation. If found desirable or necessary, I may use two or more such lugs and hooks on each trunk applied at different points thereon.

Having thus fully described the construction, arrangement, and advantages of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A trunk having a lid of the same width and length as the body of the trunk, pivotally attached at its ends to the end walls of the trunk at points above the center of depth of and at or near the upper rear corners of the lid, whereby said lid is adapted to swing practically clear of the upper edges of the walls of the trunk andwhen fully raised to stand or be supported with its top in vertical line with the rear wall of the trunk and bodily above the upper edges of the walls of the same, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a trunk having a back valance formed with an inturned upper edge, of a lid having a longitudinal groove in its rear wall, said lid being pivoted at its ends near their upper rear corners to plates or brackets secured to the end walls of the trunkbody, so as to swing practically clear of the upper edges of the walls of the trunk and when fully raised stand bodily above the trunk-Walls, with its top in vertical line with the rear wall-of the trunk, substantially as described.

A trunk having its lid pivoted at'its ends to plates or brackets secured to the end walls of the body of the trunk, so as to swing clear of the upper edge of said body, a lug secured to the rear wall of the trunk and formed with an elongated slot or opening, the upper end of which is formed with inwardly and downwardly inclined outer surface, and an upwardly and outwardly extending hook secured to the rear wall of the lid and adapted to enter said slotted lug, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS LYFORD.

Witnesses:

W. E. BOWEN, W. H. BARNES. 

